Clockwork
by Yaoimelody
Summary: This is AU. Jay goes to the woods with his parents every four years, but when he is eight he meets a mysterious teenager... Zane. Curious, he gladly comes back again... Eventually TechnoShipping c:


Jay Walker started out of the mobile home slowly, walking down the steep couple of steps and walking into the colder temperature of the woods. Every four years since his birth, his parents have come here as some odd tradition. They were scared to let him out by himself or too long, because he had lung problems that could turn deadly if not looked into. The little brunet was now eight, and was too young to understand or care what went on with his parents after hearing this. His father was put in charge of watching him while Edna cooked lunch, but the man was busy finding the toy Jay had "lost".

Quickly the boy rushed off, covered from head to toe in warm clothing since he hated cold in the first place anyways. The brunet went straight ahead and didn't look back, curious to actually see what was around here. He noticed that the trees appeared similar to each other, rather than different like he was used to. Staring back forward, he tripped over a root suddenly. Feeling alone and scared, he curled up into himself and shivered. Then he heard a crack of a branch, and began to cry in the cold from fear.

The figure continued on his way a few tree rows away, but then Jay felt a harsh tickling sensation in his throat. Trying to force it down, he realized it was too great to resist… Suddenly he got up on his knees and coughed heavily, unable to stop now. Footsteps came near him, and he tried to get up, but the brunet gave up and fell on his stomach, twisting a bit to cough more. The blue-adorned felt a warming hand on his shoulder, and it turned him so he could hug the heating figure; who now was on his knees too. Staring at him, Jay gaped a bit.

The figure turned out to be a blond teenage boy with piercing icy-grey eyes, and adorned in a simple scrubs-like kimono that surely wasn't appropriate for this cold temperature. Ignoring that, Jay moved back and tripped again, feeling like a klutz in this territory. It confused him how the other male didn't seem to get personal space, but they made eye contact and the older tilted his head. Then when the coughing started again, he quickly squirmed to get another hug from the unearthly warmth. "…You are not from around here…?"

Jay felt the hands on his back slack curiously, and the bigger boy looked down at him. The brunet blinked and it was his turn to be curious, "Um, I guess not." His savior picked him up with ease, and brought him into a child's hold, starting to walk him in the direction he came. Panicking and imagining how mad his parents would be at him, the brunet began to hit at the chest with a small hand wildly. After a bit, he noticed it was a bit hollow feeling. "Who are you?"

There was a pause, and the strange teenager looked as if he were staring into nothing, but then eased his stare to the boy, "I am Zane."

Suddenly giggling at the unusual name, the child smiled widely, "I'm Jay Walker…" The walking slowed down considerably, as if the older boy was contemplating something. It didn't matter to Jay though; he was so warm and calm now. Looking around now, it seemed like this place was practically deserted and lonely, "Are you here by yourself?"

''…Yes and no," admitted Zane finally, placing the boy down when the randomly parked mobile home was in sight, "I have my father, but no one else." He began to stalk off, hoping the boy was going back safely now.

"I'll come back someday!" cried the boy to his new friend, "You'll see!" The only reply he received were birds flying out of the trees from being startled. Yet he knew as he bounded to where his parents were calling out his name in fear, that Zane had heard him. He was sure of-

He was scooped up by his father suddenly and was face to face with Ed now, "I think you lied to me, young man."

Before he could make an excuse, he was brought inside despite his protests against such a thing. Sat down in a seat, his parents sat on either side of him. Edna looked more disheveled rather that angry, "Why'd you do it, Jay?"

Instead of really listening to the hounding questions, he smiled, "I finally made a friend, I think."

~Four Years~

"Jay Marcus Walker, you are back here as soon as you don't feel good, okay sweetie?" It was known that the Walker's were a very stubborn family line, so once Ed was on Jay's side for more freedom rather than get smothered all the time… that was that. The brunet waved behind him to prove he heard and rushed off into the woods.

Excited to see Zane once again, he eagerly moved to about where his fall could have been, but the thick root was missing. Shrugging a bit, he sat down and patiently waited. He started feeling chilled to the bone after a while, and continued on his way. He came across a large tree and smiled eagerly as he spotted a figure at the base. Getting there, the brunet dropped down and sat next to the familiar face.

It was odd, because the appearance of the teenage boy didn't change one bit. Ignoring that fact, he decided to break the other's meditation eagerly, "Hey again," he doubted recognition would happen, but he was insistently hugged as a reply. Perhaps he had made a friend…

Zane smiled the best he could, which appeared a bit fake to Jay, "I am glad you came back, I did not know when you meant…"

"Sorry about that," apologized the blue-clad pre-teen, "but my parents have a strict 'once every four years' policy or whatever…"

He gained a chuckle in return, and they leaned against the tree trunk together, but Jay blushed and squirmed so they were only touching shoulders, so there was warmth but the odd feeling in his cheeks would go away… It was unsuccessful as the teenager peered at his curiously, "I wonder why come at all, it is not very nice here most the time."

Shrugging the brunet stared back, "Well, my parents are from Norway and… Nah, you wouldn't care…" At the encouraging nod, he decided to continue despite the nervousness, "Well, my parents came here, but they hate how warm it is during the summers. So we come here, end of story."

Detecting a lie, Zane raised a brow, "Really? Is that all?"

Sighing and going back into the topic, Jay began again, "They want my… lung condition to get better, so they think that if they expose me to 'cool, fresh air' after my bigger doctor appointments, that I can magically get better or something…"

"They must really love you to try so hard," overviewed the teenager, "I wish I were able to be human… even if it meant I had a terrible condition…"

Jay nearly jumped away, but then he realized that the fact was pretty obvious by now… "Yeah, but at least your dad gets the kid he wants. My parents don't," at the incredulous look he received, Jay bit his lower lip, "My parents had been trying for a kid for all this time, and the ones that actually lived long enough to see the light of day… died after a few hours. I survived, but only because the medical doctors wanted me to suffer."

"Why do you say that?" Frowned Zane, trying to find a way to comfort this boy and help him stop thinking such negative things eventually.

The younger scoffed loudly, "Because I have lung problems, I can't go very many places without someone right there, I'm not allowed to have a cat because they think it may hurt me," he was in tears by now, "Now I think that my parents wish I died with those other kids, I bet!"

Instead of saying anything, the android took the boy in his arms and soothed him with hushes and rocked him back and forth slightly, not noticing the other's temperature was rising considerably now…

Suddenly, the secret door to the tree opened, and Jay was startled into falling face first into the snow. Pulling him up, Zane watched emotionless as Doctor Julien made his appearance. "Zane, what are we doing out here, today? Hm?" Staring down at the pre-teen wiping the snow from him face, he drew his mouth in a straight line, "What did I tell you about showing other people yourself, boy?"

The bleach blonde's face fell a considerable amount at how his creator was being, but emotionlessly got up and held out a hand to get Jay up with him and escort him back. Though, the boy shot up and away, afraid and stumbling. Watching him rush away ruined this day, which was oddly better than most. At first, Zane was allowed to have more freedom, but as the doctor grew older… He had a more stern side now, and perhaps mood swings when you thought of it… He followed his parental through the open door slowly and reluctantly closed it.

When they were at the lower level, Julien watched and Zane halfheartedly pet the realistic falcon that landed on his shoulder, staring at absolutely nothing like usual. He felt bad for being firm with his creation, but lately the ''teenager faze" hit and being ignored was just one of the things. But, rebelling and talking with an actual human? This was for his own good… "You know I do this because I love you," he smiled at the boy and adjusted his glasses, but he got a hurt stare in return. 'Perhaps I just killed his one chance at being truly happy…'

~Three Years~

After his creator had died and his "memory switch" was turned off, he was now in no knowledge of what was going on, the teen stared down at his white attire with no life left. No longer caring about anything or remembering something, for that matter, the blond waked out. 'It is a good idea to sit by this tree,' mused Zane with himself, and sat down eagerly and let his legs stretch out easily. Unsure what was next in this unfamiliar place, he decided to close his eyes… for maybe a quick nap…

-One Year-

Jay walked throughout the large woods calmly, staring around for any signs of Zane; hoping the android was fine after the last awkward encounter. He came upon the tree but the blond wasn't resting like it looked like… he was freezing. Covered with light snow and starting to completely freeze over, the younger began to grow desperate as he began to wipe off the snow covering the strong face quickly, then opened the v-neck of the scrubs, feeling around for a give to open the chest cavity. Finding the give, he opened it to uncover a crazy assortment of switches. It was freezing over in there too…

Finding the emergency-heating switch, he flipped it first, and then the one marked "memory" and other random ones he found fitting. Nothing seemed to be happening though, so he slowly wiped the glass covering the wire heart and felt tears leaking out of the corners of his numbing face. Closing the lids harshly, he watched the eyes flittering behind their lids quickly, but it seemed to be the only thing that happened. Moving so his face was inches from the other boy's, he ran a thumb across the smooth and slowly heating cheek. He kissed his long-time crush on the mouth, like he imagined sometimes with the memories he had of the teenager.

After he pulled his face away a bit, he began to realize nothing would ever work it seemed. Feeling despair, he grabbed the older and began to cry hard in his shoulder. He didn't notice the smile that began to adorn Zane's features, and the arms hugging him back warmly caused him to stop suddenly. Wildly pulling back and seeing that, yes, it worked to try and save this blond, he weakly smiled back and rubbed his freezing tears off his face.

It was odd for a few moments, but they both got up and reassuringly smiled. It was strange how they still knew each other, even though they've only met each other twice and barely had enough time to really get to know one another. Maybe they would have enough time now… Jay blushed and grabbed the heating hand suddenly, "Come with me, then we can be together for real."

Not getting the context, the robotic creation tilted his head. Saying nothing, he followed the brunet as he was practically led this time. When they reached where they were very close to the mobile home, Zane stiffened and began to back up. The blue adorned looked hurt for a moment, and then giggled, "I want to prove you're real, Zane. That I'm not crazy for loving something that doesn't exist."

"Loving?" The blond sure felt something for this human, but it wasn't like the way he loved his father. It made him nearly blush at the idea, yet he had no blood flow to have it show. They continued, but Zane nearly turned tail to run as he noticed Jay's parents waving at them. His cloudy eyes desperately stared anywhere but the boy holding his hand, scared of what would happen soon. What if these adults didn't like this?

The brunet let go and rushed to his parents, eagerly hugging them and chatting about what he discovered. Then he stared over his shoulder and spun around and jogged back to the retreating android, grabbing his hand, "Mom," he acknowledged, "Dad…" he took a breath shakily and stared back at the bewildered couple, "This is Zane… my boyfriend…" then the older swore he could hear the mumble of, "…at last…"

They were accepted with open arms, with Ed joking about how Zane better not hurt Jay, but the blond took it seriously and quickly assured them he would never dream of it. The other three laughed at it, but the older teen felt at ease finally. He would finally get a good place to be, perhaps even better than being cooped up in the laboratory most the time… They would allow the blond to stay with them, but they warned their schedule ran like clockwork. It made him think of how his insides worked, and he smiled as he agreed with a solid nod.

Jay practically danced with joy, and dragged his partner inside with him, eager to show him their little makeshift summer home. It was they last day for them to stay around here, so Ed and Edna took the front and started for the junkyard. There was a roundtable at the back wit a cushioned seat that spun around it accordingly, so Zane decided to sit experimentally. Jay sat next to him, and rested his head on the jutting shoulder without complaint. "You sure you want to come with us? It's really different where I live."

Zane made a face like he were thinking a moment, "You will be there, so I feel a deep obligation I am glad to uphold…" after the giggles subsided, "…Also you said it ran like clockwork… I will prefer that to any other alternative." Ignoring the nagging of the idea of his two-sided father rubbing off on him, the blond pecked the tanned forehead slowly. Then he leaned them back and watched the scenery out the window become drier and full of grass for the first time in his life…


End file.
